deviantART: gallery:mleiv/505336

Firefly ATCS 2012

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 21:43:08 PDT

Some firefly sketches from last week.

Labyrinth ATC Sketches

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 21:39:35 PDT

Some more labyrinth sketches. I did these awhile back and never got round to scanning them in.

I love me some David Bowie.

Rotsterarsil 1.1.8-9

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 16:19:22 PDT

Part A (2012.07.09)

There is actually a famous martial artist/aerialist in California. I ran across her when I was google searching photos for these scenes. I was momentarily sad that this wasn't such a novel idea, and then relieved that I had imagined something that was so wholly probable as to be true.

Also, <3 to my sister, famous writer Mette Ivie Harrison, who visited this weekend and distracted me from the impending SDCC panic. I recommend her Princess and the Bear. ^^

Part B (2012.07.16)

I think this bike panel is my favorite in the whole comic. I am terribly proud of the splash on pp16-17, sure, but the lighting, the pose, the ease at which this one panel just happened it was wonderful. I hope it happens again.

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TWC Vote: [link]

Rotsterarsil 1.1.6-7

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 07:40:53 PDT

Part A (2012.06.25)

In this, as in most other respects, Teisni and I must disagree. I am not a dabbler. I am interested in many, many things. But art always wins; there is no time for dabbling. However, we both do excel at unintentionally offending our friends with flippant remarks.

And a reminder to go look at the photography set on Hypnogogic Hallucinations which I helped create:

* Intruder: [link]
* Aliens: [link]
* Ghost: [link]
* Hag: [link]

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Part B (2012.07.02)

If this appears an alarming and dangerous thing to spring on a friend without warning: yeah, my bad. I have serious issues identifying appropriate behavior in public. But Madison and Teisni are chums, so I think Teis can get away with this one.

I have been hugely distracted by my one minor day in SDCC this week. Printing some Rotsterarsil posters and bookmarks and getting everything I want into my two portfolios (letter and ledger size). But I am pretty excited: I can pack it all in a carry-on and still fill my 4' table space with pretty arts. I just hope no one carries off my comics thinking they are free (apparently a problem at SDCC). Should I tie them to the table, ha?

And I got a CA temporary seller's permit (yay for the new online application!), so I *think* I can sell stuff. From what I've heard, no one will be there on Thursday (which is something of a relief: crowds=scary), but if you are and do come by, I may have a comic you can buy and get signed with sparkly pens. ^^

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TWC Vote: [link]

Rotsterarsil 1.2.4-5

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:53:56 PDT

Part A (2012.06.11)

Every time I watch someone drop on the silks, I am awed. I know it is basically just wrapping in the right pattern and relying on gravity to do the rest, but fuck if I'll ever have the guts to do anything like that. Friggin' brass ovaries on those girls, I swear!

Part B (2012.06.18)

I would like to note that Madison's former ballerina status is drawn from the fact that a huge majority of serious aerial artists come from a background in gymnastics or ballet. It was only later I heard of the boobs!=ballerina problem.

Note: My S.O.'s photography class final (on hypnogogic hallucinations) has finally been posted online, and I helped (a lot), so I wanted to show it off. There are seven pictures in all, and these are my favorites:

* Aliens: [link]
* Intruder: [link]
* Ghost: [link]
* Hag: [link]

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TWC Vote: [link]

Rotsterarsil 1.2.2-3

Mon, 28 May 2012 12:42:15 PDT

Part A (2012.05.25)

That's pronounced Tighs-nee, fyi.

I am still posting as half pages per week, but very little of 1.2 follows traditional layout, so these half pages are gonna be clipped in weird ways. 1.3 switches back to typical. I wish I could explain why my brain chooses certain panel designs over others, but damned if this is something I can ever consciously elucidate.

Also, I am helping with a student photography project on Hypnogogic Hallucinations. We posted an outtake today (full photos next week). [link]

Part B (2012.06.04)

I did see someone fall off the trapeze twice during a show. She didn't break anything, though I know her partner kinda wished she had, after skipping all her practices and ruining their routine. Sports will always mystify me: either relying on others or being relied on seems like asking for trouble, IMO.

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TWC Vote: [link]

Rotsterarsil 1.2.1

Sun, 20 May 2012 22:59:04 PDT

Purchase options in the store. Yeah, I know I swore I wouldn't do it again. But I finished it early. Because of everything else I have going on for the next 8 months, I don't think 1.3 will be pre-purchase. But, demonstrably, surprises may be had. Maybe the four-months late kinda surprises, but HEEEEEEYYYYY, surprises.

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TWC Vote: [link]

Rotsterarsil 1.2 Title

Sun, 20 May 2012 22:57:47 PDT

Purchase options in the store.

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TWC Vote: [link]

Rotsterarsil 1.1 Pages 16-17

Mon, 14 May 2012 11:27:33 PDT

And meet Finnar, all growed up. This story is probably more about him than he'd ever like you to know (which is one of the reasons I included it, ha). And his character won't be coming back for a few chapters, alas. But rest assured that he has many more pages coming, annoying the hell out of everyone else whilst looking really fine.

So here ends Issue #1. Issue #2 will start next Monday with completely different characters and location. Because that's the way I roll.

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TWC Vote: [link]

Rotsterarsil 1.1.14-15

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:15:08 PDT

Page 15

Next week Issue 1.1 ends (since I can't figure any good way to split the last two page spread), and I will start in on 1.2 the week following. There will probably be a sizable gap between 1.2 and 1.3, since 1.3 is half again as long, and I have another project distracting me (which I will hopefully be able to start talking about by then). But at least you will have another 3 months of updates!

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Page 14

Let us never speak of this past week again.

I have been busy all day catching up drawing some old pages for my art journal (and taking artistic liberties with the truth, hoho). I am so neglectful. My sketchbook hasn't been cracked open in ages also. I would lecture myself on this laziness, but I can assure you that the quantity of lecturing pointed my way has more than filled my yearly quota, so let's all not lecture mle for the next eight months, k? There might be screaming.

Also, wow. Only two weeks left. Good thing 1.2 is already done. Dunno when I will find the time to do 1.3 though.

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TWC Vote: [link]

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Rotsterarsil 1.1.12-13

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:25:10 PDT

Page 13

Note: I am AFK for the next week, so I have to post this page early.

I changed my lettering style for 1.2, and now all the lettering of 1.1 looks terrible to me. This is a good thing, right? I am also taking notes now WHILE I draw the pages, because I can't remember what I was thinking two months later.

Page 12

Favorite panel? #6, the one on the right, two down. Perfect posing. Frustrating that it is so easy when the characters are so small and vague, but the moment I try to zoom in, poof, all posing becomes bad. :/

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TWC Vote: [link]

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Things you should be reading:
Titan Magic
Two Keys

Rotsterarsil 1.1.10-11

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:03:29 PDT

More magic! I get to be more obvious this time.

Oh, by the way, IndyPlanet did add the print copy of this issue to their store. I don't think I mentioned it. Print and digital purchasing links here: [link]

Rotsterarsil 1.1.8-9

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:46:41 PDT

2012.03.26 (Page 9)

So... we have our first bit of magic. Which no one even really notices, barring our little boy Finnar.

And there is news this week: Webcomics Panel Thursday, March 29. I hope anyone going to ECCC will come - it's cheap and full to the brim with awesome webcomics!

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2012.03.19 (page 8)

Change to formatting. I will be posting even pages as half-page spreads and then updating them the following week with the full spread. I am not sure how dA will handle this approach. You may only see updates every other week. :/ And it does mean I'll be deleting older pages/comments to put in the prior spreads.

Rotsterarsil 1.1.6-7

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 07:19:50 PST

And... we have made it to my bug ships.

Rotsterarsil 1.1.4-5

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:47:00 PST

Apparently I am not allowed to leave this blank. I find it annoying to be required to add keyword tags in dA when I really have nothing I want to tag my work with: comments are much the same. I have no comment today. Brain is not feeling chatty. :/

Rotsterarsil 1.1.2-3

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:37:53 PST

[link]

Rotsterarsil 1.1.1

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:55:59 PST

[link]

So, there will be weekly updates for the next 17 weeks.

This is part one of Chapter one. Chapter one has three parts (short, short, and scary long).

If you are impatient, you can buy 1.1 right now as a PDF on Storenvy. Paypal takes a fair chunk of that price, so I am charging a little more than what I consider typical small issue cost. Sorry. :/ When 1.2 comes out, I'll bundle them or include a free bookmark or something, to make it more appealing (note to self: make some bookmarks!). And, while we are talking about printed goods, IndyPlanet/Ka-Blam will be printing 1.1 ... eventually. I would have loved to have a link for that today too, but meh, they were distracted by other projects. Next week?

And as for what happens in 17 weeks when 1.1 runs out: I was originally hoping to start 1.2 in the same manner, but it may not be possible. My employment right now is less than evenly spaced, so it is very likely I will be working 3 full-time jobs for two or three months and say goodbye to all comic and sleep. But I will draw every second I have time, I assure you. There is nothing I would rather do than draw this comic. My cats will back me up on that one (I am apparently a terrible fur-parent).

Rotsterarsi-l 1.1 Title

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:35:32 PST

[link]

I will post the first page next week. I drew all the pages as 2-page spreads, but I will be posting them individually (because I don't draw fast enough to post 2 pages a week and I have some other drawing projects in queue anyway). Which may be kinda weird in spots, but meh.

I will, however, be selling a digital pdf with 2-page layout for anyone who wants to read it in that format. I'll post a link next week when I've set that up.

I'm still working on banners and all that stuff. Damn but this was all easier to do after the fact than before!

Preview Garden

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:09:34 PST

I know I am crazy to draw all this when 80% of it will be concealed by overlaid panels, but hey, I am nothing if not OCD. In other news, I might actually be ready to start posting at the end of January. Shocking. At least, I am shocked.

In other news, there will be a webcomics exhibition this spring in Seattle (with: me!) and they are taking votes for a Reader's Choice selection of comics to include. It closes this week, so vote for your favorite webcomics:
[link]

Preview Firefight

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 16:05:34 PST

This page definitely qualifies as Shit I Never Thought I'd Be Drawing. Seriously, this is why drawing a comic is so great! There is no end of stuff I've spent my entire life being completely uninterested in drawing (like cars and SNOWBOARDING, lol), and now I have to learn how to do it. Sure, I may suck. But I'm gonna learn.

Preview Page 2

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 11:28:16 PST

Another preview shot of the Next Project (which I am still struggling to name... urgh). I'm not particularly happy with the colors still, but then I never was with Maze either, so meh, I am still of the opinion that more pages > perfect pages.

Preview Page 1

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 12:41:44 PST

Just a look at part of Page 1. I am still refining the coloring/lines.

Preview Cityscape

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 20:51:11 PST

Posting this before I lose the nerve. It's a background spread from my Next Project. There will be other stuff over it, but I am a crazy person and always draw the whole bg first. This is supposed to be about halfway between Blade Runner and WWII-era Britain.

And if you didn't catch my journal, see this: 2011 holiday cards on Storenvy [link]

Very Nerdy Xmas 2011

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:14:41 PDT

So, my four cards. I got them done early for once. Now I just have to decide how many I want to order (which requires deciding which ones I want to send to people and which ones I think I might be able to sell at GeekFest in December).

Pike: Middleman fanart

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 06:30:47 PDT

Yes, this is Wendy Watson and The Middleman. This particular scene is loosely derived from my favorite episode, the Flying Fish Zombification.

I made it for GeekGirlCon ( [link] ) this weekend, and barring crippling shyness I will get it signed by @okbjgm. And you can buy one if you come to GGC, for your own signing adventures. At my table. Which I will post a map of later. ^^

Farscape Finished Fanart

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:05:28 PDT

I have so many characters I WISH I could have included, I may have to do another one just for them. ^^

We have:
Crais Gilina Moya Stark Scorpius
Jothee Chiana Pilot Zhaan Braca
1812 D'Argo Crichton Aeryn Talyn
Sikozu Jool Rygel Noranti Ahkna
Grayza Jack Farscape Furlow Staleek

CSTS Seattle 2011 Entry

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 17:05:09 PDT

*UPDATE!*
The Seattle Browncoats decided to print my design up as tshirts anyway! YAY! \dance/ You can buy it through the CSTS event site for $20:

CSTS Seattle 2011 tickets/tshirts: [link]

If the shirts are at all like last year's, they are very thick cotton and the women's sizes tend to run big. Proceeds go to a good cause (or in this case, many good causes). And Seattle locals, I hope to see you at the screening too!

This was my entry to CSTS Seattle's art contest this year. It didn't win. Meh, I still liked it, although it was certainly not as awesome as last year's entry: [link]

The Locked Maze 3: Page 49

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 12:10:06 PDT

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Please read this week's Promoting Other Artists (Kernan fan art!).

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Theme Song:

Yes, my comic has a song. I listened to it every time I worked on a page for the past two years. If The Locked Maze were a movie, this song would be playing during the closing credits:

New Order, Temptation (YouTube version)

I know, I know, technically it should be an Oingo Boingo song (and trust me, there was A LOT of Oingo Boingo listening as well), but I never found an Oingo Boingo song that was specifically tied to my comic. Although Try to Believe is pretty close.

Final Explanation:

The Significant Other has said that none of you will ever speak to me again after this ending. Sorry. I know it seems pretty rotten (but I mean, when has this comic been happy? really?), but I had my reasons.

I have said before that I ended TLM with a Greek theme: the Marriage to Death (a sometimes metaphorical/sometimes literal theme in Greek stories). It recurs throughout literature in small and large ways, from Antigone to Romeo and Juliet, even in the popular Vampire novels of the last 100+ years. The simplest explanation is that it is a literal take on the idea that marriage IS death - if nothing else than the death of the maiden state - and to some extent I am sure the old world believed that, seeing as Roman girls were sent down the aisle in a big blood-red veil. Some people prefer the interpretation that women have a special connection/attraction to death, and in many cultures it was the women who were left responsible for the preparations of bodies for burial. But this wasn't really what captured my imagination. I was taken instead by the ideas in Johnston's The Restless Dead (a book which heavily influenced TLM). She discussed how all monsters are liminal in the Greek myths - half one thing, half another. For young maidens, killed at the cusp of womanhood before they could complete their role in marrying and having children, they became terrifying demons, perpetuating their grief by taking down other young maidens too soon, or targetting babies or husbands in an attempt to complete the part of their lives that was missed. But some of them also became powerful goddesses, like Persephone, who had the power to reverse death, to show mercy and reward love in an afterlife that was otherwise hostile and absolute. And I like that. I like the idea that some people acquire great power by experiencing something truly awful, and coming through it: broken, grieving, liminally stranded between the naive world of the optimists and the cold world of the dead. And in that between-state, they can accomplish things no one else can do. Holly's story is about that. She was broken, and she took it and used it as her power to defeat someone no one else could touch. She will never belong, anywhere she goes, but her outcast existence will also take her places no one else has been and teach her things no one else knows.

And if you want to imagine all the things that happen from this point on (since I will never write that story), just ask yourself these questions:

Why has Kernan never found his dead mother, seeing as he can come and go freely in the afterlife?

Who and where is Kernan's father?

What will happen to Anna, Lucky, and the others now that the Queen and Morgan are gone?

Will Holly ever learn to see things the way Morgan does?

What is on the other side of the Maze?

The Locked Maze 3: Page 48

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 12:07:39 PDT

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Please read this week's Promoting Other Artists (Kernan fan art!).

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Okay, it is really weird drawing my characters kissing. Like I am intruding on something private, ha.

But I hope it was squee-inducing. A little bit.

And, incidentally, it is really goddamn hard to draw stylized cartoons kissing. I mean, realistic people, sure, there are reference photos all over google. But when you have huge eyes and pencil necks and horns... suddenly I am tasked with making it all up from nothing. As usual. The things I have learned to do, or pretend I can do, over the past three years, ha!

The Locked Maze 3: Page 47

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 12:05:35 PDT

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Please read this week's Promoting Other Artists (Kernan fan art!).

I think the bottom middle panel is one of my favorites in this whole set. I <3 kitty being put down. Although personally, my cats always stiffen up when I am setting them down, like I am about to drown them in cold water: claws come out at all angles. Nesbit is apparently a very trusting cat.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 46

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 14:38:31 PDT

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I finally got around to doing a tutorial-style explanation of The Process. As tutorials go, it has huge gaping chasms of missing information and is not really very pretty on the eyes. I have trouble caring about anything that is not THE COMIC right now. Just ask the poor folks at the dinner party I had to go to last night... so very, very sorry for how rude I was.

Edit: 2011-07-17

Here is the final version of the page!

I hope the transformation makes sense now, and is not too jarring (the right amount of jarring? Jarring as appropriate to the story?). If I were a real comics artist doing big splash pages, I am sure I would have devoted at least half a page, if not two whole pages, to that change. But I was, as always, in a hurry TO FINISH, so it gets a little box.

And is not the first Nesbit drawing the most awesome cat I have ever drawed? Even with the tabby stripes and black expressionless cat eyes. I mentioned once early on in the comic that I actually used cats as the basis for Holly's cartoon style: the huge, almond eyes set far apart in a small, round face. Whenever I look at my cat, I always think of circa-1980s anime princesses.

The Process

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 14:37:11 PDT

Sorry for the insanely large fullsize image (1.2Mb)

This is, admittedly, only The Process right now. The Process changes a lot. A typical page takes 30-40 hours to complete, with the bulk of that time (12-16 hours) being the "pencil" stage. That is also where the bulk of the cursing and misery lies. Each box takes me upwards of 2 hours to draw, regardless of size (and no, I don't really know why that is-!).

The Locked Maze 3: Page 45

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 01:29:22 PDT

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I have four pages left. And about three weeks to finish them in. So I will be very busy. Especially because I keep getting distracted with the website and other things. And then I have to focus on getting prints made for my conventions in the fall and starting up my fan sketches of tv/movies again, because there is a huge quantity of fan drawing which I have been promising myself and never had time for. A Farscape cast ATC page like my firefly one is definitely gonna happen. And maybe a smaller Middleman set.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 44

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 10:22:04 PDT

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If you want to read a breakdown on the Mormon afterlife: lds.org.

This is meant to be a physical representation of the metaphorical Veil of Forgetfulness (wikipedia). Using the word "Heaven" here is incorrect, as proper heaven is not entered until after Judgement Day. In the meantime, souls go to the Spirit World, which has a Paradise and a Prison. The Spirit World is just here on Earth, though, hence the need for the aforementioned veil to keep us from seeing all those ghosts all the time. Also, the word "angels" (since Mormons don't have the winged, genderless angels of Catholic lore) is Holly's grandmother differentiating between the newly dead souls and the older righteous souls present in a more official/on-the-job capacity.

Anyway, I was just trying to create a uniquely Mormon afterlife. I could have gone with the gates and St Peter and all that, and it would have been fine (apart from the Judgement Day delay and all), but I am nothing if not obsessive about the little details...

The Locked Maze 3: Page 43

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 11:26:18 PDT

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I am working on a site for Maze. Just so it will have a place to live when I am done with it. I feel at times like it is 1999 again: as in, I have spent a decade learning how to make huge glossy commercial pages that look like magazines, but now I am making a cluttered, overly-graphic, dark, un-tagged, linear site with less than 130 pages. It is just weird. But I promise, no blinking headlines and color cycling. And it will look nice on mobile phones. And maybe have swipe.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 42

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 10:42:36 PDT

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And welcome back to Morgan, Hyacinth, Poppy, and also Jay, Kestrel, and Tulip (who may be harder to spot).

The Locked Maze 3: Page 41

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:05:10 PDT

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Two pages in one week! OMG I haven't managed that in ages. Given that page 40 is just filler, it would not have been so painfully hard, but I was also helping the Significant Other finish assembling his photography final (link) and lord, I am soooo tired. I finally upgraded to Photoshop CS5.5 (wuvey-purchased copy, so I could read his camera files) and there is a bit of a learning curve, but I am giddy to report that the jagged line issue between CS3 and my tablet - which I have put up with for three years - is finally resolved! YAY! I can draw straight lines without zooming in to 400%. The downside is that the new smooth lines are so incredibly perfect that my old computer does not have the resolution to match. I keep clicking in the wrong place and getting crooked lines anyway. :/

I have been dreading this page for the last two months, but turns out that if you just stop caring and scribble in generic people shapes, and color everything in monotone, then it aint so hard after all. By my calculations there should be over 30 million ghosts waiting (thats for two years, and Morgan said it had been going on for longer). But I couldn't even draw 30 million DOTS, so you'll just have to imagine all the rest.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 40

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:00:17 PDT

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I added this page at the last minute to improve the pacing.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 39

Sat, 28 May 2011 23:45:47 PDT

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I originally intended a lot more color on this page, but I ended up going back to the original ghost color palette from page 8. This necessitated changing the final panel on page 38 to match, but meh, worth it. Lots of colors are too hard to work with.

So, this is probably the most action we've seen in the whole comic, barring the end of Book II. It was fun drawing blowing hair and capes and all that stuff. Since it is pretty much the polar opposite of normal around here. And I don't think of myself as being particularly capable when it comes to action scenes, but I guess maybe it's not so far out of reach as I had thought. If I ever manage to convince myself to work on my next project, this will come in useful. *steeples fingers* Excellent...

The Locked Maze 3: Page 38

Sun, 22 May 2011 00:13:41 PDT

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I am not sure how I feel about this page. It is both climactic and anticlimactic at once. I mean, how incredibly thrilling is it that my heroine TOOK ONE STEP! I am sure the artists who fill Marvel and DC pages with superhero battles would be amazed at my impressive action shot there. But at the same time, this is kinda the entire point of my comic, that one person with zero magical powers can somehow make a difference. By doing almost nothing.

Anyway, there it is. I suppose I should worry more about revealing everything and try to save it all up for the last big page of action next week, before the wrap-up epilogue. But I am not caring about that now. At this point in the other two books, I was pretty thrilled, because I felt like I had made huge leaps in drawing skills and fan appreciation. In Book III, not so much. Meh. I am just not ready to let it go, I guess. It's been almost a whole decade of my life, after all. And when it is all done, I have to go back to the real world, a boring programmer for the rest of my life. :/

The Locked Maze 3: Page 37

Sun, 15 May 2011 09:22:57 PDT

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Dunno why, but I think panel 4 is one of my favoritest panels ever.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 36

Sun, 08 May 2011 09:56:56 PDT

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Even Anna is getting in on the funny today.

I was up so late last night that my brain is one big fuzzy mess. I dunno how you other artists do it. Around midnight I got the most awful headache and my eyes crusted over and although I persisted for another hour or so, I was mostly just making things worse. Also: my rental may have lovely windows and a garage, but the 1980s idea of adequate room lighting is downright comical. Even the extra lamps I've put do not help when doing any detail work. :/ I guess it just encourages me to work more on the computer, seeing as it comes with its own light source.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 35

Sun, 01 May 2011 10:35:46 PDT

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I have missed Lucky. And when I think I only have a few pages left with him in them... *sigh* I am sad.

In the last pages of this comic, I am going to hit some moments where climactic action or dialogue takes multiple pages to complete. I had hoped that I could finish pages fast enough to just give you two a week in those cases, but that is just not going to happen. These pages will be some of the most difficult I have ever drawn and they will have crowds of people, most of whom need to be identifiable, but with... *complications* to that identity. I will be lucky if I can finish even one a week.

So in the event that a page would reveal something that I need to keep hidden for another week, I will either remove the dialogue or a few panels for that week and mark the page WIP. But I will do my best to keep the one-a-week pace going regardless.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 34

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 10:34:28 PDT

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I think Holly really confused the poor puppies here. It's a game? It's a race? What? What?

And it being Easter today, I am curious about something. Do little kids really ever believe in the Easter Bunny? I know most kids (in the USA anyway) believe in Santa until 8 or so, but as the artist of the family I was recruited early for holiday wrapping skills and thus have zero memory of Santa being anything other than a holiday gimmick, like Cupid on Valentine's day. The Easter Bunny was even more obviously nothing more than a storytime character to be rendered in delicious chocolate and fluffy toys. It seems very strange (and more than a little creepy) that any child would ever believe a large rabbit who somehow births candy offspring in the form of an egg (and despite being male) comes around in the wee hours of the morning and hides his progeny in our yards. Even from the perspective of someone who looks at the pagan (and particularly Classical and pre-Classical) origins of all holidays, Easter is just really, really bizarre.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 33

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 23:44:41 PDT

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A eureka moment for Holly finally. And me, I am just tired. So much done in the past week, and so much to catch up on now-!

The Locked Maze 3: Page 32

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 11:25:33 PDT

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More of the difficult blue lighting. I had rather do a million pages with complicated shadows than one with the blue lighting. It screws up the colors and it is really hard to map out the planes of the face and think about where it would fall. If I were sane, I am sure I would acquire a 3D poser programmer, or at the very least a Ken doll, but nooooooo, I have to do it all in my head. :/ Meh. At least it's better than it was the first time around.

I have to fly to Illinois tomorrow, all by my lonesome. And I hate flying, although my dreams of dying usually involve a car and a cliff: I've actually never had a plane crash nightmare. And then I have to drive 3 hours, in the rain after dark, into a giant black zone of no cell phone coverage and no street lights and strange highways where someone thought it was totally okay to put unmarked cross streets right through a bunch of cars driving 70mph. And at the other end of this odyssey is the MORMON family. Who is also Vegan. So I will have to watch everything I say, wear, eat, and do for the next week. :/

So yes, I have been anxious all week. I did this back in December and survived, though. And I have made the Significant Other promise to hire someone to finish my comic if I don't, ha.

But that's more of my personal life than anyone cares about, and likely more than I will ever mention again. Bah. Double bah. Back to work...

The Locked Maze 3: Page 31

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 00:56:40 PDT

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I was extraordinarily pleased with the middle two panels after I had finished inking them. They inked out really well. But for some reason their incredible awesomeness didn't translate to color. My opinion on this may be clouded by the fact that I spent about 3 times my usual drawing time on this page. ALL DAMN WEEK I've been drawing this page! After some 8 hours straight without even a bathroom break in the last stretch, even looking in the general direction of my tablet is making my fingers itchy.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 30

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 10:17:03 PDT

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I have been shaving a lot of time off my inking by skipping the SketchBookPro time. The lines aren't as clean, but I think I have often said that clean lines is more a symptom of my perfectionist nature than any particular skill on my part. I couldn't draw a straight line to save my life. Although I have been playing around with the blob tool in Illustrator and thinking that it produces such nice, perfect lines with so little effort... maybe I will try that one day...

Diana Wynne Jones: 1934-2011

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:42:43 PDT

[Edited 2011-03-27]

Diana Wynne Jones, one of my favorite authors, and undoubtedly the greatest influence on my creative self, died last night. She inspired elements of every story I have ever written, and a huge pile of my childhood fan art. My current character Kernan is based on her Master of the Hunt from Dogsbody.

I started this picture fifteen-some years ago and never finished it. Distractions. Dissatisfaction. It is from one of my favorites of her books: Charmed Life, and shows Cat and Janet Chant, who have just accidentally changed the maid Euphemia into a frog. In the background are the box of letters from Cat's parents, his matchbook, and his cat, Fiddle.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 29

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 10:19:41 PDT

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This might be a good time to point out that I dislike Thomas as much as the Queen. Two despicable solipsists who don't care how many get hurt provided they themselves get what they want. :/

I am still trying to catch up on comments on deviantArt. I can only read and respond to so many per day before I start examining my words in hyper-critical, self-hating mode, so it takes awhile. :/ Maybe I am just more aware of what is going on inside my head because Validation was last week's article. I think the worst thing about the articles is that now I notice all the irritating little procrastinating/destructive habits I still have, and although I can no longer naively ignore them, I still can't make them go away. No, the worst thing is that whenever I write something, I inevitably find someone who says it better the second I am done: 10 Awesome Videos On Idea Execution And The Creative Process. Seriously, why could someone not have shown me this four weeks ago and saved me all the effort? Uhg.

And in further depressing news, I gave in and looked up 130-page graphic novel POD printing costs yesterday. $15/copy. I mean, that's my cost. Not including shipping to my house. Egads! Perhaps I should explain that I have $200+ boxes of various stuff printed over the past two years still sitting in the attic that I will probably just end up throwing away. This is not pity-party-mle time, mind you, I am just pointing out that the part I really like, the DRAWING PART, is great and free and online, and the part I hate, the BUSINESS PART, is catastrophically failing and a miserable time-suck and expensive, and the idea of spending $300 to buy 20 copies for the two conventions I am going to in the fall and then trying to convince people to pay $20 for them... not happy. Grrrrrrrrrrr. POD is eeeeeevil.

So you may find this ends up digital-only. And anyone who complains will be shown the door, with the Webcomics Mantra printed thereon: "We do this FOR FREE, so we don't have to care what *you* want."

The Locked Maze 3: Page 28

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 13:23:04 PDT

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I am dissatisfied with the dialogue on this page. I tried rewriting it several times, but whatever it is that is bugging me is still there. Also, I have two to three more pages of this conversation, which is boring. :/ All this wrapping up plot lines is just no fun! At least Tom is getting easier to draw. Those first few pages of a new character are always a big pain.

Toilet Genie + Toilet Sarlacc

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 23:29:21 PST

I finished my comic page a bit early this week and although I really should have used that time to get started on next week's page, I made this fanart/mashup picture instead.

DeviantArt's blix-it makes the breathtaking comic Toilet Genie about Vidu, the genie stuck chained to a toilet. ElectricGecko was recently illustrating a story about a toilet monster. I called it the Toilet Sarlacc. And then I got drunk and silly and decided to do a crossover mashup. So of course Vidu must be the jedi plumber, but when I was all jedi-ing him, well, I got to drawing the chains, and I couldn't resist the Princess Leia bit.

As they say in Bad Santa, not all your fan arts can be winners, ha. But I hope you get a laugh from this. I sure did!

The Locked Maze 3: Page 27

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 21:37:24 PST

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I had the most amazing time at ECCC. Really, I met a slew of wonderful, kind, and inspiring artists and it completely made up for the insane crowds and generally being lost, shoved, blocked, and ignored for most of the day. I actually gave away all the copies of my comic that I brought (last year, uh, not so much...).

and both braved the crowds to meet me at the convention, and , , , , jennifer, robin, rhiannon, and all let me tag along for dinner with their talented and supportive group of exhibiting artists at ECCC. I was honored and I hope I didn't annoy y'all too much.

In story news - EWWWW goo.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 26

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 18:13:02 PST

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I initially designed this page to go a bit futher, but the rest of the conversation didn't fit, so it will have to wait for page 27. :/ And, as I'm sure you can see, I cheated on the backgrounds again. Sorry, I've been fighting with a mysql table of 2 billion rows all week and I wasn't feeling very interested in backgrounds. On the upside, the things I could tell you about optimizing mysql for giant tables-! Or, uh, is the upside that I am *not* telling you? Yes, half a continent away, my mother has left the table to look for her favorite book, because the night's dinner conversation has turned again to boring computer speak.

In story news, we've been discussing which Thomas the Queen is talking about on mleiv.com (there are several Thomases in fairy lore). This was Thomas the Rhymer, and the myth of his son presented here was mentioned in Tea with the Black Dragon. Although I have the vague idea that I may have heard it elsewhere first, since I could swear I read that book AFTER I wrote this bit, but it was many years ago and my memory is already cloudy about last week, so I can't trust much from the early Oughts. Cobwebs up there. :/

And Holly is so cute when she is trying to manipulate the Queen. She sounds kinda like I do in job interviews: "I really excel most at repetitive grunt work. Hire me!"

The Locked Maze 3: Page 25

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 01:21:01 PST

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Urgh. I really hate the top two panels of this page, but - as usual - I am too tired and too busy to redraw them. Just know that I hate them. Especially the second one, with its awful perspective. The middle panel is okay, though. I know I suck at lighting and blah blah blah, but overall the layout, coloring, etc. of that box really look nice to my eye.

And in story news, Anna and Holly's relationship never resolves into even grudging pleasantries. Sorry, Holly. She's always going to hate you.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 24

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 18:31:55 PST

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Happy Valentines Day!

The Significant Other insists that there is implicit sex between this page and the last one. Of course, this is the same person, who, upon being asked for help fleshing out Book II many years back, said just: "It needs more sex." Like he might say that my pesto needs more basil. Men!

But it doesn't really affect the story one way or the other, so if y'all pervy readers like the idea of these two getting it on, well, sure, go ahead. Fill in the blank panels with your imagination.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 23

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 13:30:47 PST

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Argh. I hate drawing romantic/sentimental scenes. They are awkward and silly and I know I will feel deeply ashamed of them later. So this whole page... just, argh. There is no way I could ever draw it, even with all the best skills of the best artists on dA, and actually like the end result.

On the upside, how convenient that I reached this part right around valentines day. Because that means I am off the hook for extra seasonal art next week. Yes, I am lazy.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 22

Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:20:08 PST

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I've been sick all weekend and after three whole boxes of tissues, my eyes are nearly swollen shut. So if the drawing is a little off this week... ha.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 21

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 09:34:22 PST

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Urgh.... so very late this week. I spent way too long drawing forest. :/

Since I am now maintaining this comic in three different places, all with their own benefits, I thought I'd point out options to people reading in only one place.

[link] thelockedmaze.com - The comic has its own section on my website, mleiv.com (since it is nearly the ONLY art that I have done for the past three years, it sometimes feels like it *is* mleiv.com, but it has its own section anyway...). This is always the first place I update and there is an RSS feed at [link].

[link] deviantArt - The three books of TLM have their own sections under my gallery, and I am starting to accumulate fan art under a folder in my favorites. A group has been suggested, but... no time for that yet! dA is where most of the comments come in. And although it can take me a few weeks to respond, I usually read them every day on my phone.

[link] facebook - The photo collections here are a great way to read the comic because the back/next is provided by facebook. Also, this is where the Italian version is. There is not as much chatter here as on deviantArt, though.

The Locked Maze 3: Page 20

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 18:23:16 PST

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See that little bit of maze peeking out behind all the panels and text? Yes, that took me something like 30 hours to draw. Because I am so very, very stupid. On the upside, I have a lovely little labyrinth pencil drawing that I will probably frame and hang up, once my fingers start working again. Did I mention that I drew it all on paper? Because I thought it would be quicker than the computer? Yeah, very, very stupid.

On the story front, I just want to note that this is Kernan's perception of the maze here. I don't think it can actually be rendered in three dimensions, and the tiny part of it you *could* theoretically describe would only be the shape it takes for you. I do talk a bit more about its nature later in the comic, but the technical details are really just too much to dig into for this story. Think about it like a giant fractal-dividing TARDIS-ish structure, with its chameleon chip working, but the chameleon influence operates at an individual level. It's a nerdy kind of afterlife. And also, its primary goal is to go in and never come out, so it is both a labyrinth (which resolves to the center) and a maze (which exits at two ends). If we want to debate semantics here.

You can see the full labyrinth drawing here: [link]

You can play with the maze I made here: [link]